The Orioles entered Friday night with the fewest runs scored and the least amount of walks of any team in the American League.
Those numbers didn't get much better against the New York Mets' R.A. Dickey and his ducking, darting knuckleball.
The Orioles' beleaguered hitters swung and swung some more but couldn't solve the Mets right-hander in a 5-1 loss in front of a floppy-hat-wearing announced crowd of 28,554.
The fans could have used a giveaway to cover their eyes as well, as Orioles hitters piled up the ugly swings against a particularly hard knuckleball that was consistently clocked in the high 70s and at least once touched 80 mph on the stadium radar gun.
The loss dropped the Orioles to a major-league worst 17-44 on the season and 1-3 in interleague play so far this year. They have lost 20 of their last 25 and scored one run or fewer in 19 of their 44 losses.
Dickey (4-0) allowed seven hits and one earned run in seven innings, walking one and striking out a career-high eight batters. All told, the Orioles fanned 12 times.
The club's offensive frustration was encapsulated in the fourth inning -- by far their best chance against Dickey.
Miguel Tejada led off with a single, Nick Markakis walked and Ty Wigginton singled to load the bases with no outs.
In a matter of seven fluttering knuckleballs, the threat died.
Luke Scott struck out on three pitches, swinging at two. Adam Jones struck out on three pitches, swinging at all three. And then Matt Wieters popped weakly to third on the knuckleballer's first offering.
Not to be outdone, the final three hitters in each of the fifth and sixth innings left a runner in scoring position. The Orioles, who entered Friday batting .220 with runners in scoring position, were 2-for-14 in those situations against Dickey and 3-for-16 overall.
The Orioles finally broke through in the seventh, scoring their lone run when Dickey uncorked a wild pitch and Wieters scampered home from third.
The Orioles trailed from the onset, as Mets leadoff hitter Jose Reyes doubled against Jeremy Guthrie (3-7) and scored two batters later on David Wright's RBI single.
Guthrie lasted seven innings and matched Dickey for hits allowed (seven) and walks (one) while fanning five. But he made one more mistake -- a three-run homer to rookie Chris Carter in the fourth. It was Carter's first career home run.
Otherwise, Guthrie pitched fairly well, three times pitching a perfect inning.
Brad Bergesen entered in the eighth for the first relief appearance of his big league career and immediately surrendered a single and a Wright RBI double to give the Mets a 5-1 lead. He allowed one run and three hits in two relief innings.
The Orioles nearly got all of it back in the eighth when Wieters hit a long fly ball to left that would have been a three-run homer before it tailed foul. Reliever Pedro Feliciano struck him out on the next pitch.
Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez yielded a double but pitched a scoreless ninth, preserving Dickey's fourth consecutive win. Rodriguez struck out three of the four Orioles he faced -- a fitting end to the club's free-swinging, flailing night.
dan.connolly@baltsun.com